WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: OLYMPIC AND WORLD CHAMPIONS DEFEATED

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May 31, 1997 (NEW SHUTTLENWS) - The 1996 Olympic Games badminton men's singles champion, Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen of Denmark, and the defending world champion, Heryanto Arbi of Indonesia, both were defeated in today's semifinal matches at the badminton world championships in Glasgow, Scotland.

Arbi went out first, losing to Denmark's Peter Rasmussen in three games 15-9, 9-15 and 2-15.

Arbi started out well while Rasmussen played poorly in his first appearance in a world championships semifinal. Arbi used his trademark jumpsmashes and running killshots as well as numerous Rasmussen errors to reach an 11-0 advantage.

Rasmussen settled down and began to comeback with good defense against Arbi's attack, managing to turn the rally and then strike a sliced crosscourt drop for his first point.

Cheered on by the Danish supporters in the stands, the Danish lefthander tallied four more points.

Rasmussen could not maintain the pace, mishitting a jumpsmash to hand Arbi his twelfth point and then striking a jumpdropshot into the net to put Arbi at a 13-5 advantage.

A combination of Arbi errors and Rasmussen scoring shots pulled Rasmussen a bit closer at 9-13, but the defending world champion's attack then induced Rasmussen into an errant crosscourt lift for point number fourteen.

Arbi's netshot then pressured Rasmussen into a mishit, resulting in a lift that went out-of-bounds. The score: 15-9 in Arbi's favor.

In the second, Rasmussen got the early advantage. Arbi's kill attempt into the net after a jumpsmash started Rasmussen's scoring string. Aided by service fault and receiver foot fault calls against Arbi as well as Arbi errors and his own powershots, Rasmussen gained a 7-0 advantage.

Arbi's soft crosscourt block stopped a Rasmussen attack and got the Indonesian on the scoreboard at 1-7. Arbi attacked his way to three more points before Rasmussen tallied his eighth on a pressured Arbi crosscourt lift that went wide.

Rasmussen built his advantage up to reach game point at 14-7 on a jumpsmash. Rasmussen's jumpdrop into the net and a receiver foot fault gave Arbi two points.

An series of scoreless service turns followed until finally Rasmussen scored, using a series of attacking shots to set up a killshot into Arbi's body for the game winner at 15-9.

In the third, Rasmussen surprised Arbi, hitting the shuttle with more power and speed than he had shown in the previous two games. The Dane zoomed to a 12-2 lead as Arbi could not adjust to the upshift in Rasmussen's powershots.

A scoring sliced drop brought Rasmussen his thirteenth point, as the Danish supporters cheered.

An Arbi jumpsmash stopped Rasmussen momentarily.

Rasmussen and Arbi then engaged in an all-court rally that saw the attack turn until finally Rasmussen struck a smash to end the exchange and regain the serve.

Rasmussen's shotmaking pressured Arbi into a wide shot. Rasmussen was now at match point.

In the next rally, Rasmussen's tight net shot forced Arbi into a desperate shot that tipped the top of the net, resulting in a short lift. Rasmussen then pounded the shuttle to the floor for the match winner. The game score: 15-2 in favor of Rasmussen.

In the other men's singles match, Sun Jun of China defeated Hoyer-Larsen 15-7, 14-17 and 15-9.

Hoyer was error-prone in the opening game and Sun raced to a 10-0 advantage. Hoyer then used to more of a power game to get back into the contest at 7-11.

But a Hoyer miscue at the net, a Sun crosscourt drive that found the line, and a Hoyer jumpsmash that went wide took the Chinese player to game point at 14-7.

Sun gained the attack in the next rally and he uncorked a jumpsmash into Hoyer's body for the game winner.

In the second, Hoyer did not allow Sun to pull away, matching him point for point.

At 11-all, an exchange of net shots resulted in a Sun error, putting Hoyer ahead 12-11. After swapping service turns, Hoyer's all-court rally set up a scoring crosscourt smash. Then a Sun crosscourt drive into the net gave the Dane a game point.

Sun fought back, gaining a 14-all tie on several pressured Hoyer miscues.

In the three-point setting, Hoyer smashed and then struck a follow-up kill to gain the serve. Hoyer then set Sun up with a rally and scored with a crosscourt kill.

The two swapped serves, until Hoyer's net shot induced Sun into a lift that Hoyer then pounded with a scoring angled smash.

Sun fought off Hoyer's game point several times, swapping service turns.

Finally, Hoyer got Sun into a netshot exchange that resulted in a Sun miscue and the game winner for Hoyer. The score: 17-14.

In the third game, Hoyer and Sun again played even in the early going.

At 7-all, Sun induced Hoyer into an errant angled lift. In the next rally, Hoyer had Sun scrambling to return shots but then hit a crosscourt smash into the net to give Sun point number 9.

More Hoyer errors under pressure from Sun took the Chinese player to the important thirteenth point. An angled jumpsmash after a smash gave Hoyer the service, and then the Dane scored with a sliced crosscourt dropshot.

But an errant Hoyer service gave Sun control.

Hoyer pressed the attack. Sun defended well and Hoyer replied to a Sun block with a shot that found the net. Sun was now at match point 14-9.

In the final rally, Sun moved Hoyer around. A pressured Hoyer tried a push shot but directed it wide, handing the match winner to Sun.

Olympic men's doubles champions Rexy Mainaky and Ricky Subagja of Indonesia were also defeated in today's semifinals. Cheah Soon Kit and Yap Kim Hock got the better of the Olympic champions in three games 15-9, 2-15 and 15-12.

In the other men's doubles semifinal, top-seeds Sigit Budiarto and Chandra Wijaya of Indonesia beat Lee Dong Soo and Yoo Yung Sung of Korea 15-11 and 15-11 in a matchup of two quick-reflexed and power-hitting pairs.

In the all-China women's singles semifinals, top seed and defending champion Ye Zhaoying beat Wang Chen 11-5, 5-11 and 11-4, while second seed Gong Zhichao beat Han Jingna 12-11 and 11-9.

In the women's doubles semifinals, top seeds Ge Fei and Gu Jun of China beat compatriots Qian Hong and Liu Lu 15-3 and 15-3 in a quick match. The fifth seeded Chinese pair of Qin Yiyuan and Tang Yongshu upended the injury-beset second seeds Rosiana Zelin and Eliza of Indonesia 11-15, 15-11 and 15-9.

(martincoe/migrossman)